


We Go Together

by DiverseMediums



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-15 23:09:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11241210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiverseMediums/pseuds/DiverseMediums
Summary: Claire Beauchamp is used to traveling the world with her uncle. When he unexpectedly gets a job in the States, Claire starts High School three months into the school year. Maybe it's fate.





	1. Chapter 1

Claire bumbled her way down the hall, trying her best to blend in. Well, as best she could, considering she was probably the only new student showing up three months into the school year. She blew a tendril of curly hair out of her face, her arm muscles screaming about the load of used text books she carried, trying not to notice the stares and whispers in her wake. 

“Locker 213… 213… oh bloody hell!“ 

Ever so gracefully, Claire found herself on her arse surrounded by her fallen textbooks. Mortified, Claire took in the now silent crowd of students surrounding her, then at the boy she’d run into. He stood well above most of the others she’d seen that morning, his cropped red hair curling over his forehead, blue eyes staring down at her. Face burning, she hid behind the veil of her own curly hair while she started to gather her things. 

“I’m so sorry.”

She glanced up, seeing a corner of his mouth turn up as he kneeled down and started picking up her books. 

“Dinna fash, lass. I wasna watching where I was going,” he said lowly, the lilt in his speech almost making her fumble her books again. 

Claire blinked.

“You’re a Scot!” she exclaimed, looking at him with new interest. 

Claire’s smile fell a bit as his kind face sobered into an inscrutable mask. He made an odd shrugging gesture, like his leather jacket was too tight. She felt like she should apologize but didn’t know what she’d done. Instead, she focused on picking up the last of her fallen pens that had dropped out of her binder. The boy tucked the straightened pile of books under his arm, stood, then held out a hand to help her up. His palm was warm and solid, his grip steady but gentle. 

“Thank you..” 

“James. Jamie Fraser,” he responded, with a small movement that may have been a bow. 

“Thank you, Jamie,” Claire said, glancing nervously around at the other students gaping at their exchange and wishing she could disappear on the spot. 

Jamie eyed them, then cleared his throat as he tilted his head in the other direction. 

“Come along, Sassenach. I’ll help ye with your books.”


	2. Chapter 2

Claire all but jogged down the hallway to keep up with Jamie, her progress made all the more difficult by her attempts at avoiding eye contact with curious onlookers. Jamie’s large presence parted the sea of students that were in front of them and they began to shuffle on their merry way again as soon as she passed. Claire felt her blush burn hot from her chest to the tips of her ears. 

_Jesus, how embarrassing._

“Here ye are,” her erstwhile savior said, nodding at the locker. “Do ye have your combination?”

_Oh God, Beauchamp, seriously?_

“Erm..” she mumbled, fumbling in her binder for the number combination she already knew wasn’t there. 

This was the first real school she’d ever been to, having grown up traveling the world with her Uncle Lamb. Now, not only was she in a new school (one with actual plumbing, no less) but they’d relocated to the United States. Land of opportunity, eclectic accents, and apparently confusing school layouts. The first bell rang but Jamie made no move to leave. 

“Listen, thanks for all of your help but I’ve got it from here,” Claire said, setting down her things and trying to decide if she’d be able to find the school’s office again without getting lost. 

She looked up to find Jamie Fraser looking at her with a raised eyebrow, which inflamed her irritation. 

“I dinna mind helping, Sassenach. I could-”

”-Please just.. just go okay?” Claire replied exasperatedly, wanting Jamie to leave before she had a nervous breakdown. 

“I’ll just go to the office and-”

“Seriously, what is your problem? I don’t want your help!” Claire snapped. 

Jamie’s face went from surprised to inscrutable, his clear blue eyes making her feel like she was being x-rayed. 

“I see,” he said evenly, glancing away. “Well then.”

Jamie unceremoniously thrust the books out for her to take. Claire grappled for them, barely keeping the teetering pile from crashing to the floor again. She swallowed, willing back the tears that threatened to show themselves. Jamie opened his mouth to say something further but stopped as he glanced back and caught sight of her face. His expression softened, and he took a slow step toward her, placing a large, warm hand on her arm. 

“Bear up, lass. It’ll be alright.” 

Claire sniffed out a derisive laugh, blinking back the tears as she stared at the books in her arms. So much for keeping it together; she couldn’t even make it an hour, let alone the whole school year. Christ, she must look like an idiot. She exhaled a shuddering breath and felt more than saw Jamie glance around the hallway, then step closer to her as he gave her arm a soft squeeze. 

“Ye dinna have to be nervous. No one will bother ye so long as I’m wi’ ye,” he said lowly, only loud enough for her to hear. 

Claire slowly raised her eyes to meet his. He’d cocked his head to better see her face from his vantage point above her. He really was very tall. His leather jacket fitted his broad shoulders perfectly; while he couldn’t be more than 18, the lines of his body hinted at the muscle and bone of a man. He was an imposing figure, indeed. 

As if he read her mind, the corner of Jamie’s mouth twitched. 

“People tend to scatter when they see me,” he said lightly, releasing her arm but not backing away just yet. 

Claire squared her shoulders.

“And when you’re not with me?” she asked. 

“Just dinna forget you’re new here. No’ everyone here is verra welcoming Sassenach. But,” he said, a slight smile on his lips, “I’m guessing you’ll be just fine. Dinna be so hard on yourself.” 

Claire sniffed, looking down again. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Mmph,” he said, stepping away at last, as the last bell rang. “You’d best go to the front office. There should be a school map in your new student packet. Ye won’t get in trouble for being late for class on yer first day.”

Claire smiled, feeling centered again. 

“Thank you, I will.”

Jamie looked at her a moment longer, then coughed and turned to go. 

“See ye around, Sassenach!” 

“Jamie!” she called, remembering something. 

He half turned, eyebrow lifted in question.

“It’s Claire. Claire Beauchamp.”

He smiled, his slanted blue eyes seeming brighter with it, and nodded before strolling around the corner to his classroom. 

Claire took a deep breath, and exhaled, turning the opposite way to return to the office. One almost breakdown and one seedling friendship. How very high school… 


	3. Chapter 3

Due to her tardiness, Claire’s home room introduction had been quick and painless. Claire Beauchamp. Senior. 18. Goal is to become a nurse. She sighed in relief as her teacher gave her this semester’s schedule. The only desk left in the classroom was in the front row by the window. She sat down, avoiding eye contact with her curious peers, and pulled out the map Jamie had told her about.

“Hi, I’m Geillis,” her desk neighbor whispered.

Claire turned and saw a fair haired girl with green eyes looking at her expectantly. 

“Claire,” she replied, smiling hesitantly. 

“I heard,” Geillis responded with a soft laugh. “Welcome.”

“Thank you.”

Claire pulled out her schedule, hoping to have a vague idea of where she was supposed to go next period.

“Here, let me see.”

Claire held the two papers out and Geillis looked them over, chewing on her pen as she did so.

“AP Biology? Good luck!”

Claire laughed.

“I’m looking forward to it actually. I need all the credits I can get before nursing school.”

“Not me,” Geillis said. She looked around. “I want to drop out and move to Europe.”

Claire raised her eyebrows.

“Really? Why?”

“Adventure, of course! I want to travel and study folklore. You know! King Arthur. Water horses. Faeries and standing stones. It’s fascinating! Well, you’d know of course. Oh! Maybe you should come over sometime! We can hang out and tell each other all of our secrets.”

Geillis winked, but Claire wasn’t quite sure she was kidding.

“Erm,” Claire mumbled, trying to catch herself up on Geillis’ trains of thought. “Yeah, maybe…”

“Great! I can’t wait!”

The bell rang for the end of home room, much to Claire’s relief. She placed her new student folder inside of her binder.

“Go out, then left,” Geillis instructed. “Go past the stairwell, not up it.”

“Thank you so much!” Claire called, feeling lighter than she had since she found out she and her uncle would be staying here semi permanently.

She looked up to see Jamie Fraser, ridiculously noticeable amongst the crowd, glancing at her before he rounded the corner to his next class. Her heart flipped a little to see him.

Make that two seedling friendships…

***

AP Biology went so well Claire could barely stop smiling. She wasn’t as behind in her studies as she thought she’d be. In fact, she knew most of the content for the next three chapters at least. Louise, the class President, had introduced herself and given Claire a list of school activities and clubs that were available. She was perusing these as she made her way to the cafeteria for lunch.

“Claire, over here!”

She turned to see Louise waving at her from her seat at the front table. There were two other girls with her that Claire hadn’t met yet, one blonde and one brunette. She made her way over, sitting down and pulling her lunch out of her bag.

“Good idea bringing your own lunch,” the other brunette said. “What they call food here is questionable at best.”

Claire laughed, trying to relax. 

“I wasn’t sure how it was here so I brought it just in case. I’m Claire.”

“We know,” the brunette said. She eyed Claire speculatively. “I’m Geneva. This is Annalise.”

“Hello,” the blonde said, tilting her head a little.

They were both well dressed, very pretty, and clearly sizing her up. Feeling self conscious, Claire took a bite of her salad.

“Claire’s never been to America,” Louise put in, giving her an encouraging smile.

“Oh, where is it you’re from? Besides England, obviously,” Geneva asked, sipping some form of smoothie from her cup.

“Oh all over really. My uncle is an archeologist.”

“How interesting,” Annalise chimed in. “Have you been to Paris? I was born there.”

“Yes, a few times. For the most part, we weren’t based out of anything larger than villages though. Not many historical dig sites left in the cities I’m afraid.”

“What brought you and your uncle here?” Louise asked.

“He was asked to do a lecture on a breakthrough we.. the team had in Egypt last year. It went so well that he was asked to stay on and lecture a class about archeology in the modern age.”

“So, you’ll be here until the end of the school year then?” Geneva asked.

“Yes, at a minimum. We have no new projects coming up.”

The girls gave polite smiles. Claire cleared her throat and drank her water, feigning that she didn’t notice the looks passing between the other three at the table. As she glanced around the cafeteria, she caught sight of Jamie Fraser. He was sitting alone in the back corner of the room with a book open in front of him. He was looking at her. She wanted to look away, but couldn’t.

“Hello, Earth to Claire,” Louise said, nudging her shoulder. Claire’s attention refocused on the group.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

They turned to see what had distracted her. Jamie was studiously looking at his book, his ears slightly pink. The girls turned back toward Claire with mingled looks of amusement and annoyance on their faces.

“Don’t even bother,” Geneva said gravely. “Trust me. You don’t want to go anywhere near James Fraser.”

Claire was so taken aback all she could do was blink. Annalise glanced at Geneva, then down at her lunch. Louise cleared her throat. 

“So Geneva,” she said brightly, “is everything coming together for your birthday party?”

***

Claire shut her locker and shouldered her backpack. The distraction that began at lunch had bled into her afternoon. She’d received an invitation to Geneva’s eighteenth birthday party by the end of the awkward lunch but she couldn’t be happy about it. For some reason, the warning Geneva had given her about Jamie was nagging her. 

Part of her felt like she should have defended him. He’d been nothing but kind and courteous this morning, after all. The other part of her that knew first impressions weren’t always accurate was telling her to heed Geneva’s word. She exhaled, pushing the door open and blinking at the sun outside.

“Bye Claire!” Geillis called, waving as she rode away on her roller skates.

Claire laughed to herself and made her way through the crowds of students to the sidewalk, making a mental note to text Geillis about hanging out sometime. She saw Jamie walking to the parking lot. Even outside, away from the crowds, his presence commanded attention; his long stride, broad shoulders, red hair, and that damn leather jacket. The mere fact that she noticed these things surprised her. He was too far away to hear her if she called out to him, but she stopped anyways. She watched as he swung his leg over a motorcycle, pleased to see him fasten a helmet under his chin. 

Claire wondered which had come first, the ride or the jacket, but then shook her head. He looked up then, seeing her watching him. His hands stilled for a brief moment then he smiled and nodded to her before bringing his motorcycle to life. The noise of the engine startled her out of the trance she’d been in and she blushed, smiling a little as she turned down the sidewalk once more toward home.


End file.
